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Glad to hear that you enjoyed the collaboration. It was a pleasure working both Isaac and Jason. For the record, Jason KM4ACK has been my UA-cam mentor since pretty much the beginning. He called me up when I had only 500 subscribers four years ago and gave me some great tips. Cheers to these great content creators and to the viewers.
This is a great cautionary tale to test your gear, and your plan. Equipment is only as good as the loose nut behind the microphone, but fighting through problems yields valuable experience.
Man, that 3.5mm is a huge design flaw. I have a new G90 sitting in the box unopened. I bought it just in case there would be a run on the G90s. I guess the exact opposite is true. I plan to take the hot glue gun to that connector and void the warranty as soon as I take that radio out. Given the failure, it will likely remain in the box until next year. I'll stick with my 20-year old Yaesu radios.
@@TheTechPrepper I can’t even tell you how many times I trained with a piece of gear and either modified it or discarded it because it didn’t work like I hoped. All part of the gig. However you end up modifying that G90 though, I’d put up some content for the community to benefit from.
This is not the kind of long range communication that you can wing in my humble opinion. I enjoyed putting this plan together and testing it with Jason and Isaac. More food for thought coming. Wait until the after action report next week.
Unfortunately, I had no cell or Internet in the National Forest. We a had a brief, ad-hoc AAR on the Buy Me a Coffee Member Live stream this past Tuesday. It was great having Jason and Issac on the stream. I'll post some clips when I release my after action report video next week.
Thanks for the confirmation. UA-cam has been suppressing a lot of the video releases the last couple of months. No sure why, but it's great that it popped up on your feed. Thanks for the support. More coming.
In watching Isacs G90 failure, I had a couple of thoughts. 1) You have to know all your radio features and alternative ways to make it operate. Without the com port, he still had the audio interface. Using the VOX circuit in the radio and manually tuning to the JS8Call freq, he could have made the G90 work. But you'd have to know ahead of time (and have documented) the software and radio changes necessary for that. 2) Having looked at some photos of the internals of the G90, and the size of the Digirig outside of it's case, I believe the Digirig could be de-cased and mounted and hardwired INSIDE the G90. The DR has solder pads on the edge for all the connections, you'd just need to solder and wire to to the connections inside the radio. The parts that may be a challenge: 1) Finding if the CAT port feeds directly thru the DB9 connection from the head to the body, and what pins, or is it muxed inside the head. If it is muxed, I'll have to hardwire another pair of wires between the head and body, likely making it so the head is not able to be remoted (not a big deal for my operation). 2) Adding a USB port to the back panel of the radio. I think there is room to add a USB-C vertically between the ACCY port and the power connector. I will probably mode the power connector to Power Pole while I have it apart. 3) Dealing with any interference that the new cables may pick up inside the radio. I am not a UA-cam creator, so I will try to photograph my process and do some sort of documentation on my findings in case others want to try.
Correct. Knowing your gear is critical. I did everything on my end to assemble that kit, but the user really needs to be familiar with their equipment. This is why I personally stick to radios (FT-857D and FT-818ND) that are essentially the same in operation. Thanks for taking the time to share your itemized points. They're all great suggestions. I bought a G90 (that is still in the box) after I shipped Isaac's G90 back to him. If I ever have time, I may invest some cycles in trying to make the G90 a bit more bullet proof. It may be a lost cause... we'll see. 73.
@@TheTechPrepper Thanks for the reply. In looking at some wiring diagrams, I think I misspoke about the PTT/VOX. It appears that the digirig keys via the accy cable, so the CAT port only does the frequency changes. That makes it even easier to bypass that broken port. I don't think the G90 is a lost cause by any means. I do wish that more mfgs would incorporate (essentially) a digirig inside, especially considering the minimal cost it would add to the manufacturing process. Bluetooth and wireless programming also. It would be really cool if Digirig sold a stripped down version of the board with just solder pads for the connections. The board, with no enclosure, no audio jacks and no USB connector would be ultra compact and sell in the $20 range. Whether there are enough operators willing to pop the top on their rig and solder in a sub board...I dunno. BTW< thanks for what you do for the BMAC crew. I have been a member a few months now, and if I have time, I plan to try an Emcomm tools install on an old(er) laptop this week. My first real venture into Linux.
Great stuff! Approaching the end of our annual hurricane exercise. Repeaters, simplex, TELNET, packet RMS, VARA FM RMS, VARA HF RMS, VARA P2P, and APRS. Basically escalating infrastructure failure, culminating in set up in city-planned shelter locations. 73
Glad it was helpful! Yes, it is difficult to cover everything, but we nailed the alternate on digital as well the emergency via satellite. Stay tuned for the AAR during the member live stream tonight.
An excellent experiment! This demonstrates that most contacts are, to a large degree, a matter of chance and occur only when conditions allow! Making contact between two specific stations requires a higher level of planning. If you want to maximize the chances of making contact between two particular stations, selecting the right band is key! - as only one band works best between two particular stations! Therefore, I suggest developing an effective multi-band antenna that is efficient and quick to tune, and is optimized for the bands that are working at that particular time of day at that particular phase of the solar cycle. When working out of a vehicle, I recommend starting with a segmented or telescopic mast, extending vertically to least 30 feet. There are many options, but find a way to mount a base onto your truck, which can be used as the platform for mounting the base of the mast. This should allow you to erect the mast securely, without guys, in only about a minute or so. Use a multiband doublet antenna with remote tuner: At the top of the mast, mound a 100 watt remote antenna tuner located right at the feed point. E.g. the LDG RT-100 is an inexpensive, efficient and light weight remote tuner that tunes in seconds for 1:1 SWR - right at the feed point means ~zero coax loss. For current daytime conditions, I would use about 23 feet for each doublet element, which will give you efficient operation from 40 to 10 meters. Use some light cord to extend the elements out as far as is practical. Aim the doublet broadside to your contact station, as a dipole antenna > 1/2 wave-length off the ground will be acutely directional. If 20m isn't working, then 18m will not be much different! So if you start with 20m and fail, move up to 15m, then try 12, or 10m - YOU NEED THE OPTION TO GO UP SEVER BANDS! Even if you make contact, go up one more band to see if you can optimize the contact, else return. Chances of both station finding a clear and open frequency is unlikely, therefore try to agree on a range instead of a single frequency, so there's room to move slightly up or down if either one of you has local interference. If one of you is expected to call for 60 seconds, the station expected to receive should be tuning up and down plus or minus 3 or 4k to see where the calling station is located. After doing a sweep, if that doesn't work, then move up (or down) a band, which can be accomplished in less than 60 seconds using the remote auto-tuner of the multi-band doublet. And if you are operating out of a vehicle - forget the 20 watts! If you want reliability there's no need to used less than a 100 watt rig! And when using portable equipment, it only makes sense to drive out to a remote location, far away from man made noise. Two stations can always operate much more reliably and on much less power if each has a minimal noise floor.
I completely agree. When I first started my journey in amateur radio 4 years ago, I was happy just to make a contact. A few years in, I started to focus on how to establish targeted contacts in my community, city, country, state, regional and across the US. The techniques, radios, antennas, antenna deployments, power output and modes all change depending on the scenario. Yes, selecting right band is key. I used for VOACAP to determine which bands and times of day to use based on our equipment. I'll cover some of this in my after action report (AAR) video next.
The credit goes to M.A.D. Gear Co. He planted the seed and I was testing out the idea. There's a link to his field planner in the video description. It was nice testing this idea in practice. I am a fan.
Great work on all parties! This was a very interesting field test. It shows the importance of contingency plans. Even had an equipment fail myself recently during a power outage from a storm (it was just the laptop, so JS8Call was out, I'll be switching that out when I get the chance.) Sad that Issac had issues with his G90. I was hoping it would pull through and you two would make a voice contact. That would have been really impressive. Really like that Jason was there to help him.
It was a great crew. The planning was critical. Now, imagine the prepper that believes that they're just going to operate when stuff goes sideways. There's no need for a license, right? There's no need for training, right? I was hoping that the G90 would pull through, too. I invested about 120 hours into learning that radio and setting it up. It's too bad that the 3.5mm was damaged. I bought two new G90s after I returned his unit. I sent one to my training partner in Las Vegas, but mine is still in the box. I may try to address some of the design flaws and make it a bit more robust in the future. Jason was my contingency to the contingency. I called him 3-weeks earlier and asked if he would support the exercise as a relay. Instead, he offered to drive there as an advisor. I am blessed that he provided the support. We could not have pulled this off without him.
@@TheTechPrepper But Gaston: "u DoN't NeEd No StInKiNg LiCeNsE iF sHtF!!!!!" (all while screaming into the mic and wondering why no one can hear them.) It still saddens me that during our recent outage, I mentioned to the neighbors to turn their radios to one of the ham channels that had a skywarn net going so they could get updates. Finally the UV-5R's got some use! They were impressed, but they're still not interested in ham. Oh, they were all running noisy generators with little fuel. Of course. Meanwhile, we were running completely on battery! It is a shame with all the time investment you put into it. It was like the qDX: you put a lot of time into it as well. The g90 I was thinking of pushing as my full time JS8Call radio, but even with your settings, I'm still having issues as well. It may just be a faulty unit, but with Issac also having hardware issues, I'm no longer on that idea. I'm just going to keep it stored away as my portable voice rig since it works exceptionally well for that. As the saying goes two is one, and one is none. That was a great call on getting Jason involved! It's always great to have contingencies, even contingencies stacked upon contingencies. Everyone involved ended up using them in this exercise.
@@ke8mattj Glad to hear that you convinced a few non-hams of the value of radio. Listening has value. Voice did work getting into east Tennessee. The folks over at ARMLOQ copied me. I'll talk about it in my AAR, but the T-Rex facility is in a very high noise environment.
Thank you so much! It's been a blast sharing my radio journey over the last 4-years. I am still learning. Every exercise is an opportunity to improve. The AAR is up next.
Exactly. Having multiple fallback communications allowed us to perform simple message passing even when a number of methods failed. Over the last year, I have found JS8Call to be an incredible emcomm mode.
I've been known to use a lot of compromised antennas, especially when I go man-portable. To make this happen, I need to set myself up for success. A resonant dipole and proper height was critical for this exercise. It was nice having the Jeep as a tool for the operation and as a base of operation. I wish I that I had gone up another 7" on the mast, but I am not sure if that would have made a difference
Exactly right. When the sun is barfing,. HF blackouts are strong possibility. In fact, I tested the Garmin during the last solar storm earlier this month. It succeed, when HF failed. In general, when times are good, even when there is no phone or Internet, they are great backup devices in remote area. My Whitney expedition from 2022 is good example of how that little Garmin InReach saved a life. I'll talk about the "degrees of SHTF". These are all tools, and they all have purpose. Cheers.
@@TheTechPrepper "everything all at once" is always a good comms strategy strech goal. In your area peak to peak laser or microwave links might be possible even if VHF and lower is shut down. I wonder if the satellites Garmin uses for comms are using a much higher frequency than GPS. That might explain it working fine during your blackout test.
I am working on collaboration with M.A.D Gear Co in the coming months to build some field resources as part of his planner. The authentication table for this exercise came out of his product. It was nice to vet this technique for this exercise. There will be a video in the future.
Gaston, another great exercise. Regarding 20m and your SSB phone frequency selection, I think you may need to do more homework regarding nets. 17m also has a couple of nets, but its nothing like 20m which is net central. You might consider relying more on store and forward communications. Winlink mostly comes to mind when discussing HF store and forward options. As you know JS8Call has store and forward capabilities. Other store and forward options would rely on the grid at least on one end, such as aprs and sms. At 1000mi away the delay of an hour or two from store and forward may be acceptable for most situations. Unless, you are expecting the distant station to coordinate some emergency effort on your behalf in your area. Satellite comms are great, until they are gone. I hate to think about scenarios that could cause prolonged satellite outages. Keep up the good work.
I am less familiar with 20m these days as I spend all my time on 40m and 80m bands for regional comms. I have those dialed in, but I only get regional traffic, hence the jump to 20m and 17m for the skip. Early on in the plan, VOACAP showed a great path on 12m, but that looked like probability going into the exercise so, I dropped it. We discovered why 17m failed. It should have worked. I'll be covering what likely happened during my AAR video (next up). It's a good idea to scan the Internet by frequency to see if there are any hits on a net. I look at satellite comms as another tool, not a replacement for other other modes. In a full grid outage, I am not sure how the technology as deployed by Garmin will function. Solar activity also impacts satellites in LEO, so they may be out at the same time. And HF blackout is highly likely for that kind of event as well. Note: I personally used a Garmin InReach to save a life in the backcountry when amateur radio failed. I hit the repeater site and no one was listening. Carrying HF equipment on a 3-day pack was not feasible. The objective of this video was to show the general public, not the ham radio community, that true offgrid comms are challenging. Even with the knowledge of the gear, the ability to repair gear and a communications plan prepared in advance, you have no guarantee of success.
Great question. I actually started with fldigi and was late comer to JS8Call. They are actually two different, but similar tools. Since JS8 is a weak signal mode (like FT8), it excels at getting a message out with low power and less than ideal conditions. Fldigi is like a Swiss Army Knife as it is a general platform that support many modems. Each modem has its own unique characteristics, where each modem is ideally suited for a particular transmission. JS8Call just has the one modem. Both support keyboard-to-keyboard communication.
That's the radio that I've been wanting for... I would be happy with a Yaesu FT-818ND replacement with 20w, an IP68 rating, an internal sound card, and Bluetooth for both CAT control and audio. My recommendation is too offload the waterfall to an app.
Great video, showing all the issues when trying to make these targeted contacts. I'm curious on your thoughts on the G90 after what happened to Isaac? Also curious to know what happened to antenna? I would also add Winlink into your targeted comms plan. Keep up the great work!
Great content for gear selection, comm planning, and intentional contacts strategy. I am seeing amateur radio in a different perspective now, especially for preparedness. 73 KI5MQY
Yes, I use voacap.com/hf to help predict which bands will likely work between two circuits (station locations) based on output power , mode, and deployed antennas. I have an offline version (voacapl) that I am experimenting with as well. I may have covered the use of these tools lightly in other videos in the No Random Contacts series.
@@TheTechPrepper lived there for many years. Then on 911, Glen Canyon needed extra security, so I moved up to Page, az. Worked there for about 2 years on 911. Now, I live outside the Grand Canyon National Park. Bought some acreage in a few properties and sold them off and saved one for my retirement. Happy as a clam off the grid. With no neighbors w/in a mile. NVIS HF antenna, and a good ol' Cushcraft 2m/70 cm antenna above the metal roof. Very peaceful up here. Ke7ggz
@@DanHORVATH-yi6cu That's my kind of retirement plan. You're living the dream. I am on JS8Call daily on 40m. We are also starting to hold an informal daily (M-F) HF net at 1415Z for the guys in the region. We're on 7.207 LSB voice.
@@TheTechPrepper I'm looking at the G90 transceiver. Sold both my HF TenTec 525 argosy, and wanted a small packable HF radio. I've had the Yaesu 817nd, but a severe lightning storm took it out with a Kenwood ts 440 and another 450! SMH! Lost way too much gear a few years ago. So since I served in 11B/11E during the Vietnam War, I believe in being prepared with the moron in DC, sinking our country, faster than the Titanic. I'm that worried of wars and rumors of wars. It's the main reason, why I got out of a certain college town an hour away, back in 2012. Best move I could have made.
@@DanHORVATH-yi6cu Honestly, I truly believe that if you can get by with 5-6w, the FT-818ND is the radio that is the most battle proven. I have three of these as my go-to emcomm rig and have thoroughly abused since before getting licensed 5 years ago. When I need more power, I step up to the FT-857D which is almost as reliable and has a good track record.
15m is usually quiet. Lots of room on there for data and SSB. Not a lot of activity, unless there's a contest going on. Hardly anyone above 21.350 on SSB. Also, having other data modes like Olivia would be another great back up. It's slow and can hear quite well.
I ran the HF prediction and 15m would not have worked for this exercise. 17m and 20m indicated the best chance for success given our windows. I've had good luck with Olivia, but JS8 in my experience has proven to work very well in the noise. I'll be doing an AAR next and I found out why 17m failed, it likely had little to do with band conditions. Stay tuned.
I would never rely on the Garmin for a full grid down scenario as you do not control the infrastructure. I have personally used the Garmin for a live saving emergency in the backcountry in a scenario where I had no access to the Internet or cell. It's another tool, not a replacement for HF. I primarily see it as an invaluable to when in remote areas when times are good. It is not the solution for full grid scenario.
Just out of curiosity, is there any particular reason you didn't make an attempt on the 15m band? Unless there is a major contest running, there usually isn't as much activity compared to the 20m band.
Last night I was on the NE Harris County ARES. The backup NC, the scribe for net, was going to send the net report to the NE lead. Well, he lost power, and lost net. So I came in and said you could send vis WinLink...... He used his cell as a hotspot. You have to have backup. In Houston. Hurricane. Lighting. Winds. Ice storms. Accident hitting power lines....!
There is W0MWC has a 6M VARA (HF) that just went up in NW Harris Co. In the Houston TX area. NW HC ARES would like to check in to the Sunday night net via phone, Telnet, packet, VARA 2m, VARA .70m, HF VARA, and PACTOR. Or at least as many as you can I am going to try 6m for this Sunday checkin. Have you considered 6m for your tests? 6 is not always there, but with the sun acting the way it is....!
I've done some low VHF work, but mostly for local, longer range FM simplex. I like the wider band. It's pretty quiet, so we never run into others when running simplex.
I am aware of the project, but dropped the RPi over two years ago due to reliability issues in a desert environment. The same applies to the QDX. I damaged the QDX three times. The finals are in weak point on that radio. I like the form factor, but I need gear that is reliable.
To all our die-hard Ham’s out there ✊🫵 step in (boys) with that extra advice as we know we’re going to have to totally rely on all of you 🙏 for long distance comms and intel when that potential E/\/\P or grid down event occurs. ⚡️ Next major test is Canada, NZ & your mates down-under. 🇨🇦🇳🇿🇦🇺😉👍
Yes, please jump in when stuff goes sideways. I understand that most hams are very comfortable with their shack setups, but sometimes you are forced to move. I encourage everyone to do Field Day more than once a year. Review your go-box and test it regularly.
Meh. Pretty anticlimactic after a big build up. I’d like to see you or @KM4ACK training Isaac (or anyone) on radio. I’ve been on HF for about a year and watched 1000s of videos and I’m still a total noob. Digital is very forgiving. Voice is a frustrating beast. So many times I’ve wished I had someone to sit me down for an hour and teach me. UA-cam videos on HF seem to showcase crystal clear contacts with few issues. Me experience suggests that’s not reality, but I’m always left wondering if I’m just doing something wrong. Even trying to tune to the same frequency as a QSO is often frustrating.
The biggest problem I see with your lace plan is SFI numbers and Voacap numbers aren’t avaliable. That’s where operator skill and adjusting your pace plan comes in.
I have an offline version of voacap for Linux with a custom offline call DB. The SSN numbers are good for the month. I actually get SSN numbers from group via 40m.
Don't Take SATCOM to India. We had two PAX get detained and their equipment was confiscated at airport security. While it will work, some places are not "permissive environments."
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Thanks, all. More content on the way.
Thanks Gaston!
Informational content rating is 100%!
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User engagement rating is 100%. I guys are an amazing group. Thank you!
Really great seeing these collaboration tests in action. Thanks for all your efforts. Cheers and 73 good sir.
Glad to hear that you enjoyed the collaboration. It was a pleasure working both Isaac and Jason. For the record, Jason KM4ACK has been my UA-cam mentor since pretty much the beginning. He called me up when I had only 500 subscribers four years ago and gave me some great tips. Cheers to these great content creators and to the viewers.
This is a great cautionary tale to test your gear, and your plan. Equipment is only as good as the loose nut behind the microphone, but fighting through problems yields valuable experience.
Man, that 3.5mm is a huge design flaw. I have a new G90 sitting in the box unopened. I bought it just in case there would be a run on the G90s. I guess the exact opposite is true. I plan to take the hot glue gun to that connector and void the warranty as soon as I take that radio out. Given the failure, it will likely remain in the box until next year. I'll stick with my 20-year old Yaesu radios.
@@TheTechPrepper I can’t even tell you how many times I trained with a piece of gear and either modified it or discarded it because it didn’t work like I hoped. All part of the gig. However you end up modifying that G90 though, I’d put up some content for the community to benefit from.
Dang, the comms gods were against you, but you had some success. Your thorough plan made it happen. Nice work! :)
Yes. Voice was a challenge given the frequencies being used. I have some ideas on how to remedy this. Stay tuned for the AAR.
Much better results than having no plan. Subbed, great information. Gave me a lot to think about.
This is not the kind of long range communication that you can wing in my humble opinion. I enjoyed putting this plan together and testing it with Jason and Isaac. More food for thought coming. Wait until the after action report next week.
30 seconds after release and I’m eager to see this video from both channels!
Same here. It would have been cool to see a live stream
Sorry it took 21 hours to response. The day job was killer on Friday. Thanks for jumping in and being the first to watch. I appreciate the support.
Unfortunately, I had no cell or Internet in the National Forest. We a had a brief, ad-hoc AAR on the Buy Me a Coffee Member Live stream this past Tuesday. It was great having Jason and Issac on the stream. I'll post some clips when I release my after action report video next week.
Found this video in less than an hour after it posted. Nice! Thanks for all your awesome content and knowledge!
Thanks for the confirmation. UA-cam has been suppressing a lot of the video releases the last couple of months. No sure why, but it's great that it popped up on your feed. Thanks for the support. More coming.
Good job Gaston!
It was rough but you made it!!!
I’ve been watching T-Rex Arms for many years. They’re a good bunch of guys.
Right on bud
It was a rough one with some great lessons. I am anxious to see the other half of this exercise from Jason KM4ACK and Isaac on the T-Rex Labs video.
Excellent videos by both channels.
Thanks, buddy. I appreciate the support. Thanks for selling me the FT-818ND. It's nice having a backup unit now that they are discontinued.
@@TheTechPrepper absolutely. It’s good to know it went to a good home.
In watching Isacs G90 failure, I had a couple of thoughts.
1) You have to know all your radio features and alternative ways to make it operate. Without the com port, he still had the audio interface. Using the VOX circuit in the radio and manually tuning to the JS8Call freq, he could have made the G90 work. But you'd have to know ahead of time (and have documented) the software and radio changes necessary for that.
2) Having looked at some photos of the internals of the G90, and the size of the Digirig outside of it's case, I believe the Digirig could be de-cased and mounted and hardwired INSIDE the G90. The DR has solder pads on the edge for all the connections, you'd just need to solder and wire to to the connections inside the radio.
The parts that may be a challenge:
1) Finding if the CAT port feeds directly thru the DB9 connection from the head to the body, and what pins, or is it muxed inside the head. If it is muxed, I'll have to hardwire another pair of wires between the head and body, likely making it so the head is not able to be remoted (not a big deal for my operation).
2) Adding a USB port to the back panel of the radio. I think there is room to add a USB-C vertically between the ACCY port and the power connector. I will probably mode the power connector to Power Pole while I have it apart.
3) Dealing with any interference that the new cables may pick up inside the radio.
I am not a UA-cam creator, so I will try to photograph my process and do some sort of documentation on my findings in case others want to try.
Correct. Knowing your gear is critical. I did everything on my end to assemble that kit, but the user really needs to be familiar with their equipment. This is why I personally stick to radios (FT-857D and FT-818ND)
that are essentially the same in operation.
Thanks for taking the time to share your itemized points. They're all great suggestions. I bought a G90 (that is still in the box) after I shipped Isaac's G90 back to him. If I ever have time, I may invest some cycles in trying to make the G90 a bit more bullet proof. It may be a lost cause... we'll see. 73.
@@TheTechPrepper Thanks for the reply. In looking at some wiring diagrams, I think I misspoke about the PTT/VOX. It appears that the digirig keys via the accy cable, so the CAT port only does the frequency changes. That makes it even easier to bypass that broken port.
I don't think the G90 is a lost cause by any means. I do wish that more mfgs would incorporate (essentially) a digirig inside, especially considering the minimal cost it would add to the manufacturing process. Bluetooth and wireless programming also.
It would be really cool if Digirig sold a stripped down version of the board with just solder pads for the connections. The board, with no enclosure, no audio jacks and no USB connector would be ultra compact and sell in the $20 range. Whether there are enough operators willing to pop the top on their rig and solder in a sub board...I dunno.
BTW< thanks for what you do for the BMAC crew. I have been a member a few months now, and if I have time, I plan to try an Emcomm tools install on an old(er) laptop this week. My first real venture into Linux.
Love your practical content. I am only interested in targeted communications. You are the man!
You're my kind of viewer. Shameless plug... shop.thetechprepper.com/products/no-random-contact-mug
Awesome stuff as always. Please keep putting out this kind of content.
Thanks, will do! I appreciate the support.
Great stuff! Approaching the end of our annual hurricane exercise. Repeaters, simplex, TELNET, packet RMS, VARA FM RMS, VARA HF RMS, VARA P2P, and APRS. Basically escalating infrastructure failure, culminating in set up in city-planned shelter locations. 73
Thank you. Glad to hear that you've been training during your active season. Stay safe and keep up the good work.
Good Job! I'm sure it hard to cover all the base's on a comms plan.
I have learned a ton form you.
Thank you
Glad it was helpful! Yes, it is difficult to cover everything, but we nailed the alternate on digital as well the emergency via satellite. Stay tuned for the AAR during the member live stream tonight.
Adapt and overcome! Great video as always. 73
That is the mantra of these "No Random Contact". Cheers, buddy!
An excellent experiment! This demonstrates that most contacts are, to a large degree, a matter of chance and occur only when conditions allow! Making contact between two specific stations requires a higher level of planning.
If you want to maximize the chances of making contact between two particular stations, selecting the right band is key! - as only one band works best between two particular stations! Therefore, I suggest developing an effective multi-band antenna that is efficient and quick to tune, and is optimized for the bands that are working at that particular time of day at that particular phase of the solar cycle.
When working out of a vehicle, I recommend starting with a segmented or telescopic mast, extending vertically to least 30 feet. There are many options, but find a way to mount a base onto your truck, which can be used as the platform for mounting the base of the mast. This should allow you to erect the mast securely, without guys, in only about a minute or so.
Use a multiband doublet antenna with remote tuner: At the top of the mast, mound a 100 watt remote antenna tuner located right at the feed point. E.g. the LDG RT-100 is an inexpensive, efficient and light weight remote tuner that tunes in seconds for 1:1 SWR - right at the feed point means ~zero coax loss. For current daytime conditions, I would use about 23 feet for each doublet element, which will give you efficient operation from 40 to 10 meters. Use some light cord to extend the elements out as far as is practical. Aim the doublet broadside to your contact station, as a dipole antenna > 1/2 wave-length off the ground will be acutely directional.
If 20m isn't working, then 18m will not be much different! So if you start with 20m and fail, move up to 15m, then try 12, or 10m - YOU NEED THE OPTION TO GO UP SEVER BANDS! Even if you make contact, go up one more band to see if you can optimize the contact, else return.
Chances of both station finding a clear and open frequency is unlikely, therefore try to agree on a range instead of a single frequency, so there's room to move slightly up or down if either one of you has local interference. If one of you is expected to call for 60 seconds, the station expected to receive should be tuning up and down plus or minus 3 or 4k to see where the calling station is located. After doing a sweep, if that doesn't work, then move up (or down) a band, which can be accomplished in less than 60 seconds using the remote auto-tuner of the multi-band doublet.
And if you are operating out of a vehicle - forget the 20 watts! If you want reliability there's no need to used less than a 100 watt rig!
And when using portable equipment, it only makes sense to drive out to a remote location, far away from man made noise. Two stations can always operate much more reliably and on much less power if each has a minimal noise floor.
I completely agree. When I first started my journey in amateur radio 4 years ago, I was happy just to make a contact. A few years in, I started to focus on how to establish targeted contacts in my community, city, country, state, regional and across the US. The techniques, radios, antennas, antenna deployments, power output and modes all change depending on the scenario.
Yes, selecting right band is key. I used for VOACAP to determine which bands and times of day to use based on our equipment. I'll cover some of this in my after action report (AAR) video next.
Love the authentication card, very good. Thanks for posting. 73's
The credit goes to M.A.D. Gear Co. He planted the seed and I was testing out the idea. There's a link to his field planner in the video description. It was nice testing this idea in practice. I am a fan.
Great work on all parties! This was a very interesting field test. It shows the importance of contingency plans. Even had an equipment fail myself recently during a power outage from a storm (it was just the laptop, so JS8Call was out, I'll be switching that out when I get the chance.) Sad that Issac had issues with his G90. I was hoping it would pull through and you two would make a voice contact. That would have been really impressive. Really like that Jason was there to help him.
It was a great crew. The planning was critical. Now, imagine the prepper that believes that they're just going to operate when stuff goes sideways. There's no need for a license, right? There's no need for training, right?
I was hoping that the G90 would pull through, too. I invested about 120 hours into learning that radio and setting it up. It's too bad that the 3.5mm was damaged. I bought two new G90s after I returned his unit. I sent one to my training partner in Las Vegas, but mine is still in the box. I may try to address some of the design flaws and make it a bit more robust in the future.
Jason was my contingency to the contingency. I called him 3-weeks earlier and asked if he would support the exercise as a relay. Instead, he offered to drive there as an advisor. I am blessed that he provided the support. We could not have pulled this off without him.
@@TheTechPrepper But Gaston: "u DoN't NeEd No StInKiNg LiCeNsE iF sHtF!!!!!" (all while screaming into the mic and wondering why no one can hear them.) It still saddens me that during our recent outage, I mentioned to the neighbors to turn their radios to one of the ham channels that had a skywarn net going so they could get updates. Finally the UV-5R's got some use! They were impressed, but they're still not interested in ham. Oh, they were all running noisy generators with little fuel. Of course. Meanwhile, we were running completely on battery!
It is a shame with all the time investment you put into it. It was like the qDX: you put a lot of time into it as well. The g90 I was thinking of pushing as my full time JS8Call radio, but even with your settings, I'm still having issues as well. It may just be a faulty unit, but with Issac also having hardware issues, I'm no longer on that idea. I'm just going to keep it stored away as my portable voice rig since it works exceptionally well for that.
As the saying goes two is one, and one is none. That was a great call on getting Jason involved! It's always great to have contingencies, even contingencies stacked upon contingencies. Everyone involved ended up using them in this exercise.
@@ke8mattj Glad to hear that you convinced a few non-hams of the value of radio. Listening has value.
Voice did work getting into east Tennessee. The folks over at ARMLOQ copied me. I'll talk about it in my AAR, but the T-Rex facility is in a very high noise environment.
@@TheTechPrepper I saw that in their video with all the high voltage power lines and such. I'll be eagerly awaiting the AAR.
You are doing such a great Job!
Thank you so much! It's been a blast sharing my radio journey over the last 4-years. I am still learning. Every exercise is an opportunity to improve. The AAR is up next.
That was awesome... strong work.
Thanks, buddy. It was a fun exercise. Every field exercise seems to have at least one curve balls. We add a machine tossing curveballs. 73s
Awesome, been waiting for this vid.
Hope you enjoyed it! This one was in the making for a while due to the G90 manpack build and comms planning. Have a great weekend.
Nice demonstration of exactly why a fella would take the time to do a third and fourth backup
Exactly. Having multiple fallback communications allowed us to perform simple message passing even when a number of methods failed. Over the last year, I have found JS8Call to be an incredible emcomm mode.
Great video as always, please keep it up!
Thanks, will do! This was a fun one. More on the way.
Glad to see you using a mast, so often antennas are super compromised
I've been known to use a lot of compromised antennas, especially when I go man-portable. To make this happen, I need to set myself up for success. A resonant dipole and proper height was critical for this exercise. It was nice having the Jeep as a tool for the operation and as a base of operation. I wish I that I had gone up another 7" on the mast, but I am not sure if that would have made a difference
Satellites get jammed by solar activity too so always have an emergency when the sun isn't barfing on us :P
Exactly right. When the sun is barfing,. HF blackouts are strong possibility. In fact, I tested the Garmin during the last solar storm earlier this month. It succeed, when HF failed. In general, when times are good, even when there is no phone or Internet, they are great backup devices in remote area. My Whitney expedition from 2022 is good example of how that little Garmin InReach saved a life. I'll talk about the "degrees of SHTF". These are all tools, and they all have purpose. Cheers.
@@TheTechPrepper "everything all at once" is always a good comms strategy strech goal. In your area peak to peak laser or microwave links might be possible even if VHF and lower is shut down. I wonder if the satellites Garmin uses for comms are using a much higher frequency than GPS. That might explain it working fine during your blackout test.
Would love a video about the authentication table for sure
I am working on collaboration with M.A.D Gear Co in the coming months to build some field resources as part of his planner. The authentication table for this exercise came out of his product. It was nice to vet this technique for this exercise. There will be a video in the future.
Gaston, another great exercise. Regarding 20m and your SSB phone frequency selection, I think you may need to do more homework regarding nets. 17m also has a couple of nets, but its nothing like 20m which is net central.
You might consider relying more on store and forward communications. Winlink mostly comes to mind when discussing HF store and forward options. As you know JS8Call has store and forward capabilities. Other store and forward options would rely on the grid at least on one end, such as aprs and sms.
At 1000mi away the delay of an hour or two from store and forward may be acceptable for most situations. Unless, you are expecting the distant station to coordinate some emergency effort on your behalf in your area.
Satellite comms are great, until they are gone. I hate to think about scenarios that could cause prolonged satellite outages.
Keep up the good work.
I am less familiar with 20m these days as I spend all my time on 40m and 80m bands for regional comms. I have those dialed in, but I only get regional traffic, hence the jump to 20m and 17m for the skip. Early on in the plan, VOACAP showed a great path on 12m, but that looked like probability going into the exercise so, I dropped it. We discovered why 17m failed. It should have worked. I'll be covering what likely happened during my AAR video (next up). It's a good idea to scan the Internet by frequency to see if there are any hits on a net.
I look at satellite comms as another tool, not a replacement for other other modes. In a full grid outage, I am not sure how the technology as deployed by Garmin will function. Solar activity also impacts satellites in LEO, so they may be out at the same time. And HF blackout is highly likely for that kind of event as well. Note: I personally used a Garmin InReach to save a life in the backcountry when amateur radio failed. I hit the repeater site and no one was listening. Carrying HF equipment on a 3-day pack was not feasible.
The objective of this video was to show the general public, not the ham radio community, that true offgrid comms are challenging. Even with the knowledge of the gear, the ability to repair gear and a communications plan prepared in advance, you have no guarantee of success.
Thanks. No mode is perfect, but contingency worked.
You're welcome. I has pretty sure digital would make it through. It should have worked on 17m, too. I'll share why it likely failed in the AAR.
Awesome setup as always. What are the advantages of js8call over fldigi?
Great question. I actually started with fldigi and was late comer to JS8Call. They are actually two different, but similar tools. Since JS8 is a weak signal mode (like FT8), it excels at getting a message out with low power and less than ideal conditions. Fldigi is like a Swiss Army Knife as it is a general platform that support many modems. Each modem has its own unique characteristics, where each modem is ideally suited for a particular transmission. JS8Call just has the one modem. Both support keyboard-to-keyboard communication.
As Isaac was alluding to a rugged compact digital hf radio with at least 20w and a tuner would be outstanding
That's the radio that I've been wanting for... I would be happy with a Yaesu FT-818ND replacement with 20w, an IP68 rating, an internal sound card, and Bluetooth for both CAT control and audio. My recommendation is too offload the waterfall to an app.
I was disappointed when Yaesu didn’t introduce a 818 replacement this year in Dayton. There’s a market and I keep holding out hope.
@@TrenchKraft I was equally disappointed. I have been waiting for replacements for both the 857 and 818.
Great video, showing all the issues when trying to make these targeted contacts. I'm curious on your thoughts on the G90 after what happened to Isaac? Also curious to know what happened to antenna? I would also add Winlink into your targeted comms plan. Keep up the great work!
Stay tuned for a full After Action Report within the week. I will cover everything.
EXCELLENT!
Many thanks! This one was a fun one with plenty of lessons learned. I saw you on the T-Rex Labs comments, too. Thanks for the engagement.
Outstanding and enjoyable video!
Glad you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for the after action report. There are lots of lessons here.
epic collaboration =)
Epic viewers. You guys rock.
Great content for gear selection, comm planning, and intentional contacts strategy. I am seeing amateur radio in a different perspective now, especially for preparedness. 73 KI5MQY
Glad it was helpful! You might be interested in the earlier series on targeted contacts. The playlist is linked in the last 7 seconds of the video.
what is the dent on your hat for?
It's for the sun glasses to nest tightly under the hat. It's great if you're wearing over-the-ear protection. The hat is called the Notch.
How did it fail. I am thinking about doing a G90 man pack because of the auto tuner and the compact size.
7:18
How are you using this tool to predict proper sky wave propagation?
Yes, I use voacap.com/hf to help predict which bands will likely work between two circuits (station locations) based on output power , mode, and deployed antennas. I have an offline version (voacapl) that I am experimenting with as well. I may have covered the use of these tools lightly in other videos in the No Random Contacts series.
Hay. Your close to me! I used to live in Pine Arizona.
Pine is one of our favorite spots. Howdy, neighbor!
@@TheTechPrepper lived there for many years. Then on 911, Glen Canyon needed extra security, so I moved up to Page, az. Worked there for about 2 years on 911. Now, I live outside the Grand Canyon National Park. Bought some acreage in a few properties and sold them off and saved one for my retirement. Happy as a clam off the grid. With no neighbors w/in a mile. NVIS HF antenna, and a good ol' Cushcraft 2m/70 cm antenna above the metal roof. Very peaceful up here. Ke7ggz
@@DanHORVATH-yi6cu That's my kind of retirement plan. You're living the dream. I am on JS8Call daily on 40m. We are also starting to hold an informal daily (M-F) HF net at 1415Z for the guys in the region. We're on 7.207 LSB voice.
@@TheTechPrepper I'm looking at the G90 transceiver. Sold both my HF TenTec 525 argosy, and wanted a small packable HF radio. I've had the Yaesu 817nd, but a severe lightning storm took it out with a Kenwood ts 440 and another 450! SMH! Lost way too much gear a few years ago.
So since I served in 11B/11E during the Vietnam War, I believe in being prepared with the moron in DC, sinking our country, faster than the Titanic. I'm that worried of wars and rumors of wars.
It's the main reason, why I got out of a certain college town an hour away, back in 2012. Best move I could have made.
@@DanHORVATH-yi6cu Honestly, I truly believe that if you can get by with 5-6w, the FT-818ND is the radio that is the most battle proven. I have three of these as my go-to emcomm rig and have thoroughly abused since before getting licensed 5 years ago. When I need more power, I step up to the FT-857D which is almost as reliable and has a good track record.
I grew up in West TN not far from KJTFK
Great content GMan! Looking at similar projects with our club.
I'm glad to hear it. Good luck with you group's exercise. Keep us posted.
15m is usually quiet. Lots of room on there for data and SSB. Not a lot of activity, unless there's a contest going on. Hardly anyone above 21.350 on SSB.
Also, having other data modes like Olivia would be another great back up. It's slow and can hear quite well.
I ran the HF prediction and 15m would not have worked for this exercise. 17m and 20m indicated the best chance for success given our windows. I've had good luck with Olivia, but JS8 in my experience has proven to work very well in the noise. I'll be doing an AAR next and I found out why 17m failed, it likely had little to do with band conditions. Stay tuned.
Please comment on if the believe Garmin iNReach will function grid down without internet and evidence to support why.
Sincerely,
Echo
I would never rely on the Garmin for a full grid down scenario as you do not control the infrastructure. I have personally used the Garmin for a live saving emergency in the backcountry in a scenario where I had no access to the Internet or cell. It's another tool, not a replacement for HF. I primarily see it as an invaluable to when in remote areas when times are good. It is not the solution for full grid scenario.
Maybe link his video in the description great stuff!
The link is there.
Just out of curiosity, is there any particular reason you didn't make an attempt on the 15m band? Unless there is a major contest running, there usually isn't as much activity compared to the 20m band.
Last night I was on the NE Harris County ARES. The backup NC, the scribe for net, was going to send the net report to the NE lead. Well, he lost power, and lost net.
So I came in and said you could send vis WinLink......
He used his cell as a hotspot.
You have to have backup. In Houston. Hurricane. Lighting. Winds. Ice storms. Accident hitting power lines....!
What a great training moment...
What was that SWR meter you were using?
The RigExpert 230
There is W0MWC has a 6M VARA (HF) that just went up in NW Harris Co. In the Houston TX area.
NW HC ARES would like to check in to the Sunday night net via phone, Telnet, packet, VARA 2m, VARA .70m, HF VARA, and PACTOR. Or at least as many as you can
I am going to try 6m for this Sunday checkin.
Have you considered 6m for your tests? 6 is not always there, but with the sun acting the way it is....!
I've done some low VHF work, but mostly for local, longer range FM simplex. I like the wider band. It's pretty quiet, so we never run into others when running simplex.
Conversed with Isac at T-rex. Have you tried the DigiPi? I know you have burnes out the QDX, have you burned out the QMX from QRP labs?
I am aware of the project, but dropped the RPi over two years ago due to reliability issues in a desert environment. The same applies to the QDX. I damaged the QDX three times. The finals are in weak point on that radio. I like the form factor, but I need gear that is reliable.
What is the software you are using for communication? Linux or windows platform?
I'm running JS8Call on Linux, but it runs on Windows and Mac as well.
To all our die-hard Ham’s out there ✊🫵 step in (boys) with that extra advice as we know we’re going to have to totally rely on all of you 🙏 for long distance comms and intel when that potential E/\/\P or grid down event occurs. ⚡️
Next major test is Canada, NZ & your mates down-under. 🇨🇦🇳🇿🇦🇺😉👍
Yes, please jump in when stuff goes sideways. I understand that most hams are very comfortable with their shack setups, but sometimes you are forced to move. I encourage everyone to do Field Day more than once a year. Review your go-box and test it regularly.
Meh. Pretty anticlimactic after a big build up. I’d like to see you or @KM4ACK training Isaac (or anyone) on radio. I’ve been on HF for about a year and watched 1000s of videos and I’m still a total noob. Digital is very forgiving. Voice is a frustrating beast. So many times I’ve wished I had someone to sit me down for an hour and teach me. UA-cam videos on HF seem to showcase crystal clear contacts with few issues. Me experience suggests that’s not reality, but I’m always left wondering if I’m just doing something wrong. Even trying to tune to the same frequency as a QSO is often frustrating.
The biggest problem I see with your lace plan is SFI numbers and Voacap numbers aren’t avaliable. That’s where operator skill and adjusting your pace plan comes in.
Aren’t avaliable if there’s no internet*
I have an offline version of voacap for Linux with a custom offline call DB. The SSN numbers are good for the month. I actually get SSN numbers from group via 40m.
if only there was a way to encrypt the communication without paying a kings ransom
There are ways, but not permitted when we have a functioning society.
One time pads
Don't Take SATCOM to India. We had two PAX get detained and their equipment was confiscated at airport security. While it will work, some places are not "permissive environments."
Roger. I have no plans of going to India.
Dam it I'm going to buy a new radio f me
Do you have a G90?
rogue FCC techs love targeting your lame crap